What Made You Choose a Cruise Ship Wedding?

[NurseBeth]

So I'm interested in what made all of you decide to get married on a cruise ship?

 

For my fiance' & I, we both LOVE the ocean and going on cruises, so it seemed like a natural choice. But I must confess, the MAIN reason we chose to get married this way is because, plain and simple, it's a heck of a lot less expensive, and much more simple than a "traditional" wedding. Since we found ourselves paying for it on our own, this was the most "bang for our buck" so to speak.

 

So what about the rest of you? What made you choose a cruise? ;)

[WedCruise7]

I agree with Nursebeth, we choose a cruise ship wedding becasue it was cheaper and with me and my fiance paying for it all on our own I could not afford the wedding we wanted here. Plus a month before we got engaged last new years we moved into our new home which we also purchased on our own. So this is what we decided on. We have heard that cruising is wonderful from some friends as well. Sometimes I look back and wish we would have done the traditional wedding but with my wedidng being so close I am getting so excited. Plus we decided to do a celebration at our house when we return more of a casual party i guess you would call it, nothing special. It should be fun.

[Prinycesa07]

Good question!

 

Overall we choose it because it was inexpensive and easy. I was never one of those girls who wanted to do everything that a traditional wedding would have called for (food tasting, choosing cakes, finding a hall, etc. etc.).

 

So because of this, we knew we wanted a destination wedding. I chose a cruise because i went with my family 8 years ago when i was 17. My mom and dad had such a great time and kept saying they really want to do it again sometime. So this was a way of giving them that again.

 

By inexpensive i mean for not only us but our friends as well. All of our good friends have just graduated from college so they really are broke. I had to find the cheapest way for them to be able to be a part of our day and to have fun at the same time.

 

Finally, My fiance has never been ANYWHERE. AT ALL. So i thought that with a cruise wedding, he would be able to see a couple different places. We made the perfect decision for us :D

[briseis23]

I love this topic! I never would have thought to ask. We both agreed before the engagement that a beach wedding would be nice, since we live near the beach. We wanted something smaller and more intimate and non-traditional. Some friends of mine got married in Ocho Rios last year, but they went through an all-inclusive. So we thought hey, for less than a flight and a hotel we can all go on a cruise and really spend some time together. We picked an off-peak time of year to get a good deal and looked at cruises that went to Ocho Rios. We looked for something near Valentine's so it could double as a romantic trip, but then found our perfect itinerary that sets sail the day before the Super Bowl. We are at sea all day that Sunday, so we are going to have the most killer Super Bowl party!

 

Most of our friends and family are all over the north, so to convince them to come was easy. They would have had to fly regardless, but going on a cruise was a great excuse for a vacation that happens to have a wedding in it. The idea was just perfect. We had our wedding pretty much planned between the location and choosing our wedding coordinator and booking a group of rooms on the ship through Carnival, so we were able to share a lot of information with everyone from the beginning. Plus my parents have never been out of the country, so I thought this would be a real treat for them.

 

Also, it's a great way to have a gorgeous dream wedding at a much lower cost. When I tell people I'm getting married in Jamaica they are in such awe. If they only knew how affordable it is to do!

[merocket59]

I was talking to a girl in one of my classes last year and she told me that she had thought about doing a cruise wedding (that was the first time I heard of such a thing and I thought it was a great idea). I kept it to myself for a while because I figured FI and I would probably just elope since all of our parents are divorced and his parents in particular cannot stand each other. Eventually I told FI about the idea and he loved it. Then we started telling about parents and they all loved the idea!! His mom was a little apprehensive about being on a ship with his dad and there were a few jokes about someone "falling" into the ocean, but I think things will go alright. I hope that investing money into cruise ticket will be an incentive to be on their best behaviors and the ships are large enough for everyone to stay away from each other so we'll see! Plus I'm very easy going and don't like to be fussed over or be the center of attention so a quick and pre-organized wedding is more appealing to me.

[merocket59]

but then found our perfect itinerary that sets sail the day before the Super Bowl. We are at sea all day that Sunday, so we are going to have the most killer Super Bowl party!

 

That is such an awesome Super Bowl party!!!!

[Bay-ba-boo-bah]

My FH and I were actually going to have the "traditional church wedding". We were planning to go on a cruise the day after the wedding. We visited the florist and put in our order (no deposit), made the trip to pick out our cake and even booked the restaurant for the reception. After looking at the cost of all of those things and then the additional costs such as booking the church, we felt like we were NEVER going to be able to save enough to get married in the little bit of time we wanted to get married in (he propsed Nov. 9th and my son leaves for the Army on Feb. 7th). We wanted to get married before my son leaves. We decided to take a cruise for our honeymoon and that is when we saw the link for a cruise ship wedding. The entire cost of the wedding and a 7-day cruise was just under $3,000!! Savings: $7,000!! It has been hard not being "hands-on" and without this message board to keep me sane-I don't know how I would have dealt with the stress of not knowing how these type of weddings turn out. Personally, I think these cruise weddings are just as beautiful, elegant and just as nice as the "traditional" type. Our only regret wasthat Carnival Glory does not have a chapel, but our Pastor will be the one performing the ceremony, so for us it will be the same as standing in our church. :)

[Mich1121]

I decided on a cruise wedding for several factors:

 

1. I already have two children and felt a little silly to have a big wedding

2. You get your wedding and honeymoon all in one

3. Less hassle, less expensive and all around one great week

4. Instead of one day your special time lasts 7

5. Great photo ops

6. I know my kids will absolutely love it as we have cruised before

7. I don't have to worry about driving anywhere or getting somewhere on time-I'm already on the boat and only have to go up a floor or two

 

I think for my family it's an all around better choice and I'm happy that I have decided to do this.

[1125Pincessbride]

We made the decision After we booked the cruise! We both have been maaried before and this really made the most sense. Vacation, relax, get married, and the opportunity to have tons of photos throughout ..

Made lots of new friends and it was fun being recognized as the newlyweds while on board!

[monlyba]

i have many of the same reasons that you all have already mentioned. we went on our first cruise in 11/2006 and really loved it. my mom has been cruising and working on cruise ships for years so she is like our family cruise "expert" and always makes it sound so interesting. when we got engaged, i knew i wanted to get married "out of town" mostly because i'm pretty shy and unlike most brides, the thought of a huge crowd of people - even friends and family - staring at me and fussing over me is really kinda terrifying. :o i knew that if we planned some sort of destination wedding, only a few really close friends and most likely just my parents would go, so i wouldn't be as nervous with that small of a crowd. plus it'd be cheaper, we'd have the lovely backdrop of a tropical beach, combine the honeymoon into it with plenty of time to be alone as well as hang out with friends (and our daughter, who will be 3 when we go... and there will be trusted people there to take her off our hands for some of that alone time, hopefully!). since we have already been living together, have a child, and are not religious, the thought of marrying in a church was never an option for us anyway. i looked into getting married on a beach in Savannah or Charleston, but soon realized that a cruise wedding trip with a simple ceremony on an island was just what we wanted. :D i think it'll be better than anything we could have planned in town, and the photos will be awesome! unlike many cruise wedding couples, we are doing a reception in our hometown a few weeks after we get back, but we're keeping that frugal and simple and hope to spend < $3000 on it. so our overall cost for all wedding-related things will be way less than most people spend i think.

 

oh, and yeah people totally raise their eyebrows and give me "a look" when i mention we're getting married during a cruise... i think they assume we are loaded, or else stupid and blowing a lot of money on this deal. most people i know aren't very familiar with cruising and are under the impression that it's quite expensive. i'm trying to spread the word that it's really a good deal when you compare it to driving/flying somewhere, getting a hotel, buying your meals, paying for entertainment, etc and you're only visiting ONE spot. the cruise industry needs to do a PSA or something! ;)

[fungirl76]

For us it was a no brainer. We LOVE to cruise and we LOVE the beach. There simply was no other option..

[jkneern]

I have not been on this site in a while and I can feel myself getting the addiction back but I love reading about everyones weddings!

Oh yea the question...... Well we chose a cruise wedding because for us it was our 2nd wedding and we love cruising. At first we had not even thought about getting married on a ship. We had asked my kids how they wanted to spend their Feb. school vacation and they said a cruise. Great idea!! Next thing we knew my parents wanted to come along...then my sisters and their families decided to come too. Within a few days everyone was booked and we decided all the people important to us were going to be on the ship already so........We got married on the Imagination last Feb.22,2007 It was spectacular! In a few weeks we will celebrate our 1yr anniversary on the Imagination again and most of the family will be joining us.

[wiscwood]

My fiance and I took a cruise last February, which was just supposed to be a vacation... the shore excursion we had planned to do in St. Lucia was already booked, so we ended up visiting a jewelry store on the island instead - we happened upon the perfect engagement ring and he popped the question on the ship! We both had such a fantastic time on that cruise that we thought it would be perfect to come back a year later and get married on the same ship. We ended up booking the wedding on a sister ship, due to the wedding date, but you get the idea!

[tameka94]

My Fiance and I wanted to do a destination wedding after we saw some friends get married in Jamaica. My future Father in Law had a stroke last year and this limited our options because we want him there. Since he cannot travel far, I started looking a destination type weddings near the metro area where we lived. I started looking at cruising and the affordability of hte price since we are paying for everything. My fiance is somewhat shy and did not want a long reception. Basically for the price location and flexibility for people to travel and not have to take a "vacation" if they did not want to or timing is right. We have 75 non sailing guests and 14 sailing guests.

[sobral]

Our wedding is just a small affair-me, fiancee and my two grown up kids and we have both been married before so.....how do we make our day special? Cant think of a better way than getting married on the high seas! So unusual and a holiday in it aswell. Everyone I tell about our wedding are just so in awe, I think its a wonderful idea whether you are a young first timer couple or..like myself, slightly older and wiser

[brianroberts2526]

It was a no brainer for us.

-The price

-The fact that it was different, all of our guests were amazed how cool it was.

-And going on cruises is something me and my wife love to do.

 

Haven't posted on here in a while, any recent Glory couples?

[love2cruise2newhere]

Me and my wonderful man have been together for a little over 3 years now. We have been living together for about 1/2 of that time. When we started to talk engagement he was no in such a hurry, and is still not. I know he has the ring, I know it's the one I picked out but, he still hasn't proposed. (I think that could be stributed to our lack of a romantic nature and laid backlifestyle--and the fact that I ruined the proposal plans--.) However, we are hoping that we can get booked on an Alaskan cruise for August. It's looking promising so far, There is still availabitity..at least there was 2 weeks ago. Our decision to get married on a cruise stemmed from a joke. We both love to cruise and can't wait to go again.:D We also knew that our next destination was going to be Alaska. I somehow stumbled upon these boards and my imagination started running. To add to our love of cruising, I have NO desire to plan a wedding. I don't have the time, nor do I want to make it. To make things complicated, our families lve about 3 1/2 hours apart, not a long distance for us, but it could become an issue for some family members. I then started thinking about the feeling that I wold have with everyone looking at me. We are not a couple who shows affection in public, I don't know why, we just don't. In fact, thinkng about getting married in front of a crowd almost makes me sick.:( I didn't want to have MY day be horrible. While I was looking around I learned that you can get married on a glacier, how cool! We talked it over, and dicided it was perfect for us. We LOVE to be outdoors and LOVE nature. In fact, we have bought a camera, a triod, every filter you can think of, a back pack carring case and have watched every travel channel special on Alaska. We can't wait. I will let you know the detail when they are finalized.

[RachieLnnn]

Me and my wonderful man have been together for a little over 3 years now. We have been living together for about 1/2 of that time. When we started to talk engagement he was no in such a hurry, and is still not. I know he has the ring, I know it's the one I picked out but, he still hasn't proposed. (I think that could be stributed to our lack of a romantic nature and laid backlifestyle--and the fact that I ruined the proposal plans--.) However, we are hoping that we can get booked on an Alaskan cruise for August. It's looking promising so far, There is still availabitity..at least there was 2 weeks ago. Our decision to get married on a cruise stemmed from a joke. We both love to cruise and can't wait to go again.:D We also knew that our next destination was going to be Alaska. I somehow stumbled upon these boards and my imagination started running. To add to our love of cruising, I have NO desire to plan a wedding. I don't have the time, nor do I want to make it. To make things complicated, our families lve about 3 1/2 hours apart, not a long distance for us, but it could become an issue for some family members. I then started thinking about the feeling that I wold have with everyone looking at me. We are not a couple who shows affection in public, I don't know why, we just don't. In fact, thinkng about getting married in front of a crowd almost makes me sick.:( I didn't want to have MY day be horrible. While I was looking around I learned that you can get married on a glacier, how cool! We talked it over, and dicided it was perfect for us. We LOVE to be outdoors and LOVE nature. In fact, we have bought a camera, a triod, every filter you can think of, a back pack carring case and have watched every travel channel special on Alaska. We can't wait. I will let you know the detail when they are finalized.

 

You are planning the wedding and he has the ring... I would consider you engaged! :confused: :eek:

 

P.S. An Alaskan wedding sounds totally unique!

[ShedQueen77]

If I said to get away from my now DH's family that would sound bad, wouldn't it? :D

 

Actually, the cruise wedding was totally his idea. I told him that since it was his first marriage (and hopefully last! lol) he could do whatever he wanted and I'd arrange it. He wanted to avoid the chaos that his extremely large (and obnoxious) family tends to cause at family functions and also wanted to keep the cost down. He wanted something that was unique and special to us, not a "dog and pony show" for people who really didn't care.

 

That was HIS reasoning, NOT mine! Although I will admit the idea was quite agreeable. ;)